HawgBeat - Could Arkansas' 2024 class be its best yet?
Could Arkansas' 2024 class be one for the record books?
arkansas.rivals.com
Arkansas' recruiting has been on a steady climb in the Sam Pittman era, and the 2024 class is currently in good shape with 19 recruits.
The class ranks No. 21 nationally, sandwiched below North Carolina and above Stanford, but that ranking only tells part of the story.
In the Rivals era, which dates back as far as 2002, the highest Arkansas has ever finished is No. 16. That ranking came in 2009 under Bobby Petrino who, as most fans know, coached some of the greatest teams in Arkansas history.
The 2009 class featured a five-star recruit in defensive back Darius Winston, as well as eight four-star recruits, but the final ranking was mostly based on the sheer number of recruits in the class.
While that 2009 class was ranked toward the top of the country, it contained 31 total recruits, meaning only 29% of the class was rated higher than three-star.
From a star-ranking standpoint, Arkansas’ best class was in the class of 2019, which featured names like KJ Jefferson, Treylon Burks, Ricky Stromberg and Jalen Catalon. It finished No. 20 in the nation and had a total of 13 four-star recruits.
In total, 52% of the 2019 class was four-star recruits, a mark that hasn't come close to being touched until 2024.
The 2024 class, so far, features 12 four-star recruits and seven three-stars. It's headlined by two four-star defensive ends in Little Rock Mills' Charleston Collins and Leeds, Alabama, native Kavion Henderson, and the coaching staff isn't done.
One name on Arkansas' radar is four-star tight end Tayvion Galloway. The Ohio native has expressed interest in the Razorbacks, and he told HawgBeat recently he would like to take an official visit.
Should the coaching staff land Galloway's services, they would tie the record for the most four-stars in a class. But there's one more name to keep an eye on as well.
Four-star linebacker Bradley Shaw took an official visit to Arkansas in June and said at the time the Hogs were "in the tops" of his recruitment. Things got quiet with him for a while, but after gaining the commitment of his teammate and friend Jeremy "JuJu" Cook, things could start trending in the right direction.
Shaw took another visit to Arkansas during the BYU game on Sept. 16, and had the chance to see an electric atmosphere inside Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, despite the outcome on the field.
Really, all it would take for Arkansas to break the record of four-star recruits is to go on a tear on the recruiting trail ahead of the Early Signing Period in December. If the Hogs were to get to 14 four-stars and call it good at 21 total recruits, it would mean 66% of the class is four-star recruits.
Regardless of recruiting rankings, though, the game is won and lost on the field. It's impossible to know if a recruit — regardless of his star ranking — will pan out, but rankings are typically a good indicator of a team's success on the field.
